Farmers Movement Archive

Shahkot farmer develops innovative machine to overcome labour crisis

Tribune News ServiceJalandhar, June 22Dearth of farm workers amid the pandemic has forced a farmer from Shahkot to think out of the box and develop a machine that can help farmers to be less dependent on labourers.Using old and used machine parts that were lying at his home, Major Singh invented a machine that can be used in sowing of mat-type paddy saplings on approximately 20 acres in a single day.He said due to the lockdown, they knew that buying new things would be impossible. Hence, he used worn-out wheels, chains and shafts from his combine machine and modified accordingly to develop a new machine.The farmer said earlier, nearly five labourers were required for sowing saplings on 4-5 acres but now, only three farm labourers were needed and sowing of saplings on approximately 20 acres could be completed in a single day.“Starting from loading of soil, spreading of polythene sheet, sprinkling of water and then sowing of seeds and covering them with soil, every step can be carried out by this machine,” Major Singh said.He said preparing of a nursery was a difficult task as it was done manually and people would often leave it midway due to the laborious work involved.“But with this machine, it has become easy,” he said.He said amid the lockdown, the shortage of labourers had already been troubling farmers a lot, due to which he, along with one of his relatives, thought about making some ‘jugaad’ to resolve their issues.Major Singh said for the next time also, he had already thought of another innovation, where everything would be done automatically and no labourer would be required for the task.Recently, Agriculture Department officials also visited the area and appreciated the efforts of the farmer. Chief Agriculture Officer Surinder Singh said such innovations would help other farmers to sow mat-type saplings at a low cost and also less number of labourers were required in the same.

The Tribune

2020-06-23